390 HISTORY OF THE 



I did not measure any of them before removal, and afterward 

 accurate measurement could not be made, as, being loosely con- 

 structed, they spread and flattened. They must have been about 

 as deep as wide — deep enough to receive the whole body of 

 the bird, only part of the head and tail showing above the edge. 

 The birds are close sitters, several not leaving the nest till it 

 was shaken, and I could have caught some of them in my hand. 

 On being driven from the nest, they would alight on an adjoin- 

 ing limb, and, with lowered head and half-extended wings, utter 

 their peculiar querulous cry. One nest contained five eggs, six 

 contained four each, and two, three each; both sets of three were 

 partly incubated. Two nests were taken May 5th, five on the 

 10th and two on the 11th, 1879. The eggs were quite pointed 

 at the smaller end. The ground color is bluish white, splashed 

 all over with small spots of dark brown, thickest at the larger 

 end. Nine eggs measure respectively: 1.19x.88, 1.21x.93, 

 1.22X.92, 1.25X.91, l.l7x.87, 1.18x.84, 1.17x.85, 1.20x.82, 

 1.17X.80; average, 1.19x.87." 



The nest is easily seen, and I am surprised that so few have 

 been found. The bird is a restless wanderer, choosing the most 

 unfrequented places. It often changes its haunts, and may be 

 plenty one year where it is scarcely found in another. Prob- 

 ably the food supply has something to do with its movements. 

 It is gregarious, and partly so even in the breeding season. 



Family ICTERID.^. Blackbirds, Orioles, etc. 



"Primaries nine. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly; plated behind. Bill Ion?, 

 generally equal to the head or longer, straight or gently curved, conical, without 

 any notch, the commissure bending downwards at an obtuse angle at the base. 

 Gonys generally more than half the culmen, no bristles about the base of the 

 bill. Basal joint of the middle toe free on the inner side; united half way on 

 the outer. Tail rather long, rounded. Legs stout." 



Genus DOLICHONYX Swainson. 



"Bill short, stout, conical, little more than half the head; the commissure 

 slightly sinuated; the culmen nearly straight. Middle toe considerably longer 

 than the tarsus (which is about as long as the head); the inner lateral toe long- 

 est, but not reaching the base of the middle claw. Wings long, first quill long- 

 est. Tail feathers acumiuately pointed at the tip, with the shaft stiffened and 

 rigid, as in the Woodpeckers. 



